My Family in Japan!

My mother and sister visited me in Miyazaki. It took a bit of getting used to for them simply because they’ve never been to Japan. One of the main things people do when they get here, or any other country for that matter, is to assume that you’ll have the same benefits and that life in a different country would be exactly the same as if you were home. So being forced to do small things, like slightly changing up the way you eat in public, expecting more than 2 napkins at McDonalds, being stared at while you eat, are some things that people have to get used to. Being here for 8 months only makes you realize small things, like when an old lady decides to stand 8 feet away from you until the bus comes, or when they’d cross the street when you’re coming. Once my family got here, I never realized how much I’ve actually become accustomed to Japanese culture and how unbelievably foreign my family was. Something like that is never really glaringly obvious until you’re told to ask someone who is selling plants to give a discount, or when you’re usually given one packet of McDonalds, to ask for 3, or to walk into a mom and pop shop and being told that your family found nothing to buy.





Even common rights and privileges like having someone to complain to when your freezer turns into a giant ice/snow cube, don’t necessarily come with the package of being in a foreign country. I think my mom and sister butted heads with the culture and didn’t really like what they saw. They liked plenty of other things here, but certain things they weren’t willing to bend to, and that’s okay! Even if they don’t like this foreign country, they can explore other foreign countries and see what they like. However, I think that’s one of the biggest problems with people going to foreign countries: leaving one’s home country and expecting everything to be the same. Once people get that out of their heads, living anywhere can be much easier.




Despite the slight cultural showdowns, I was so happy that I was able to see them, and completely distraught when they left. I think I was sadder then than when I actually first left for Japan when everyone in my immediate family came with me to the airport. It was good because their being here reminds who I’m doing this for; not just for me, but for my family as well. They left right when they were beginning to really like Japan, too… so….who’s up for round two?